EU financing sources 16
16.1 Financial schemes
16.1.2 European funding programmes
16.1.2.1 LIFE
The LIFE programme is the EU’s funding instrument for the environment and climate action. LIFE funds innovative projects that demonstrate new techniques and methods.
The general objective of LIFE is to contribute to the implementation, updating and development of EU environmental policy and legislation by co-financing pilot or demonstration projects with added value. Since its start in 1992, LIFE has been continuously co-funding innovative projects that help address the EU’s transition to a low-carbon and climate-resilient economy, strategically underpinning the implementation of the EU strategy on adaptation to Climate Change and demonstrating ways to meet the climate action challenges from now to 2030. LIFE funding can also be supported by two financial instruments, the Natural Capital Finance Facility (NCFF) and Private Financing for Energy Efficiency (PF4EE). Additionally, LIFE projects can provide technical assistance, strengthen capacity building and carry out preparatory work for environmental legislation. Projects are financed under the following categories:
Traditional projects are best-practice, demonstration, pilot, information, awareness- raising or dissemination projects that cover the following priority areas: Nature &
Biodiversity Environment & Resource Efficiency, Environmental Governance &
Information, Climate Change Mitigation, Climate Change Adaptation, Climate Governance & Information.
Preparatory projects address specific needs for the development and implementation of EU environmental or climate policy and legislation.
Integrated projects are implemented on a larger territorial scale (regional, multi- regional, national or trans-national) than other LIFE projects. Under the sub- programme for Environment, these projects implement plans or strategies required by specific EU environmental legislation - primarily in the areas of nature, water, waste and air. Under the sub-programme for Climate Action, Integrated projects implement climate action plans, strategies or roadmaps required by EU climate legislation - primarily in the areas of Climate Change mitigation and adaptation.
Technical Assistance projects, under both the sub-programmes for Environment and Climate Action, provide action grants and financial support to help applicants prepare Integrated projects.
NGO operating grants help develop and implement EU environmental or climate policy, by facilitating dialogue with all stakeholders. European NGOs coordinate and channel the views of national organisations and citizens as input into decision-making processes, participate in preparatory studies, and play an important role in raising awareness.
Of the many issues addressed by LIFE, there is a focus on practices and measures that promote resilient communities, safeguard natural resources, encourage protection of ecosystems and foster adaptive technologies for economic sectors that are vulnerable to Climate Change. LIFE has focused on forest fires and flood prevention measures and the application of the precautionary principle. It also made a particular contribution to the development and elaboration of hydrological and climate models as tools necessary to address water scarcity and droughts. Other projects supported by LIFE developed tools and novel technologies demonstrating realistic Climate Change scenarios for specific sites to enable impact and vulnerability assessments and suggest the most appropriate adaptation measures to protect biodiversity and improve urban and rural resilience (211).
The fund may be used for supporting signatories, coordinators, supporters, academia for SECAP development, SECAP implementation and hiring of experts.
16.1.2.2 Urban Innovative Actions
The main objective of Urban Innovative Actions (UIA) is to provide urban areas throughout Europe with resources to test innovative solutions to the main urban challenges, and see how these work in practice and respond to the complexity of real life.
The programme supports the implementation of pilot projects and puts emphasis on participatory processes involving various stakeholders. The beneficiaries of the program are the local authorities from a population of at least 50 000 inhabitants or association of local authorities if the total sums up to 50,000 (can be cross-border, but territorial contiguity is strongly recommended). The participating countries are the EU 28 member states. The first call of proposals (31/03/2016) focused on the integration of migrants and refugees, the creation of jobs and skills in the local community, the energy transition and the tackling of the urban poverty. Next calls that followed also included actions taken regarding climate adaptation, circular economy, housing, urban mobility, green procurement, digital transition, air quality and nature-based solutions. The project size in terms of money is calculated to be maximum 5 million euros with a co-funding rate of maximum 80%.
16.1.2.3 CIVINET (CIVITAS National Networks) Activity Fund
CIVITAS program aims to cleaner and better transport in cities and the acronym stands for CIty-VITAlity-Sustainability. CIVITAS is an EU initiative for supporting and evaluating the implementation of integrated sustainable and energy efficient urban transport strategies in European cities that should make a real difference to the welfare of the European citizen. The CIVITAS Activity Fund is a programme that supports the take-up of sustainable urban mobility measures in Europe by providing financial assistance for specific activities of the CIVNETS. CIVINET is a group of city networks that promote the CIVITAS approach at a local level, overcoming language and contextual barriers for local authorities and organisations interested in urban sustainable mobility. Members exchange information in their own language working together to engage with the European Union and national governments, about transport policy issues, legislation, regulations, and funding. Each CIVINET City Network works independently, with
(211) ec.europa.eu. (2018). Environment - LIFE : Products. [online]
Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/life/products/factsheets.htm
cooperation through CIVINET to share learning, experiences and spread the city network approach to other countries.
16.1.2.4 URBACT III
URBACT helps cities to develop pragmatic solutions that are new and sustainable and that integrate economic, social and environmental urban topics. URBACT’s mission is to enable cities to work together and develop integrated solutions to common urban challenges, by networking, learning from one another’s experiences, drawing lessons and identifying good practices to improve urban policies. To respond to the numerous challenges facing cities, local authorities need to continually improve and build knowledge and skills to enable them to develop and implement sustainable integrated policy.
URBACT III (2014-2020) has been developed to continue to promote sustainable integrated urban development and contribute to the delivery of the Europe 2020 strategy. The programme is organised around four main objectives:
Capacity for Policy Delivery: To improve the capacity of cities to manage sustainable urban policies and practices in an integrated and participative way
Policy Design: To improve the design of sustainable urban policies and practices in cities
Policy Implementation: To improve the implementation of integrated and sustainable urban strategies and actions in cities
Building and Sharing Knowledge: To ensure that practitioners and decision makers at all levels have access to knowledge and share know-how on all aspects of sustainable urban development in order to improve urban development policies.
To reach these objectives, URBACT III has developed three types of interventions:
transnational exchange, capacity-building and capitalisation and dissemination. The thematic objectives focus on strengthening research, technological development and innovation, supporting the shift towards a low-carbon economy in all sectors, protecting the environment and promoting resource efficiency, promoting employment and supporting labour mobility and last but not least protecting the social inclusion and combating poverty.
The expected impacts of the program are as follows:
Urban practitioners in cities have increased knowledge and capacity in relation to integrated approaches to sustainable urban development
Cities have designed integrated strategies and action plans for sustainable urban development
Cities have improved their performance with regard to the implementation of integrated plans for sustainable urban development
Practitioners and decision-makers at all levels have increased access to URBACT thematic knowledge on sustainable urban development and make use of it.
16.1.2.5 Territorial Cooperation
European Territorial Cooperation (ETC), better known as Interreg, is one of the two goals of cohesion policy and provides a framework for the implementation of joint actions and policy exchanges between national, regional and local actors from different Member State. Interreg is built around three strands of cooperation: cross-border (Interreg A), transnational (Interreg B) and interregional (Interreg C).
A) Cross-border Cooperation: helps transform regions located on either side of internal or external borders of the European Union into strong economic and social poles. In particular, cross-border actions are encouraged in the fields of entrepreneurship, improving joint management of natural resources, supporting links between urban and rural areas, improving access to transport and communication networks, developing joint
use of infrastructure, administrative cooperation and capacity building, employment, community interaction, culture and social affairs. Cross-border cooperation is essentially about "filling the gaps". It does so through agreed cross-border “analysis and response”
strategies, specifically formulated and tailored for each border region.
B) Transnational Cooperation: promotes cooperation among greater European regions, including the ones surrounding sea basins (e.g. Baltic Sea Region, North Sea, Mediterranean and Atlantic Area) or mountain ranges (e.g. Alpine Space) and facilitates coordinated strategic responses to joint challenges like flood management, transport and communication corridors, international business and research linkages, urban development and others. Special attention is given to outermost and island regions (e.g.
Indian Ocean, Caribbean Area or Northern Periphery).
C) Interregional Cooperation: provides a framework for the exchange of experiences between local and regional actors from across Europe in order to contribute to the EU’s strategies on growth, jobs and sustainable development. In addition, it aims at reducing disparities by matching less experienced regions with more advanced regions in the various policy fields such as innovation, demographic change, energy supply and Climate Change (212).
Five programming periods of Interreg have succeeded each other:
INTERREG I (1990-1993) - INTERREG II (1994-1999) - INTERREG III (2000-2006) - INTERREG IV (2007-2013) - INTERREG V (2014-2020). For the period 2014-2020 there are 60 cross border programmes, 15 transnational programmes and 4 interregional programmes.
16.1.2.6 Horizon 2020
Horizon 2020 (H2020) is the biggest EU Research and Innovation programme ever with nearly €80 billion of funding available over 7 years (2014 to 2020). H2020 aims to achieve smart, sustainable and inclusive economic growth. H2020 is organised in thematic sections each dedicated to a specific challenge. Among these, particularly relevant for local authorities are the so called Societal Challenges (SC).
SC1: Health, demographic change and wellbeing;
SC2: Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine and maritime and inland water research, and the Bioeconomy;
SC3: Secure, clean and efficient energy;
SC4: Smart, green and integrated transport;
SC5: Climate action, environment, resource efficiency and raw materials;
SC6: Europe in a changing world - inclusive, innovative and reflective societies;
SC7: Secure societies - protecting freedom and security of Europe and its citizens.
The Societal Challenge 3 of the Work Programme for 2018-2020 focuses on research, demonstration, innovation and market-uptake actions across different low-carbon energy sectors, notably in the core priorities identified in the Energy Union Strategy: renewable energy; smart energy systems; energy efficiency; and, as an additional priority, Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage. This part of Horizon2020 also includes the Smart Cities and Communities calls. The Societal Challenge 5 Work Programme for 2018-2020 focuses on moving to a greener, more resource efficient and climate-resilient economy in sync with the natural environment, demonstrating a strong commitment to supporting the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the targets of the COP21 Paris
(212) ReitelJean, B., Peyrony, J., Wassenberg, B. and Rubió, J. (2015) Territorial cooperation in Europe: A historical perspective. [online] Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union. Available at:
http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/sources/information/pdf/.../futurium/en/system/files/ged/interreg_25years _en.pdf
Agreement. This Work Programme is structured around two calls: 'Building a low-carbon, climate resilient future: climate action in support of the Paris Agreement' and 'Greening the economy in line with the SDGs'. The focus area 'Building a low-carbon, climate resilient future' will align R&I investments towards the Climate Change targets of the Paris Agreement. Work related to the circular economy and the focus area on 'Connecting economic and environmental gains – the Circular Economy' will also align R&I towards these targets. The Societal Challenge 4 Work Programme for 2018-2020 focuses on Smart, Green and Integrated Transport. These calls have the overall objective of achieving a European transport system that is resilient, resource efficient, climate- and environmentally-friendly, safe and seamless for the benefit of all citizens, the economy and society (213).